1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an ice dispensing apparatus equipped with an ice making mechanism and an ice storage box, and more particularly to the discharge of ice pieces from the ice storage box to which the ice pieces are supplied from the ice making mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are various known types of ice dispensers. Most of the ice making mechanisms incorporated in such ice dispensers are of a so-called auger type in which an evaporator pipe is wound around an outer peripheral surface of a cylinder supplied with water for making ice, wherein an ice layer is produced on and along the inner surface of the cylinder under a cooling action produced by coolant flowing through the evaporator pipe. The ice layer thus formed is scraped off into ice shavings by means of a helical blade mounted around a rotatable shaft disposed within the cylinder, the resulting ice shavings being then fed upwardly to pass forcibly through a pressure head having a plurality of compression channels to be converted into ice columns which are then broken into small ice pellets or pieces having a desired length. The ice pieces thus produced are stored within an ice storage chamber or box disposed above the cylinder. The rotatable shaft mentioned above has a lower end portion operatively coupled to a drive motor and extends upwardly through the cylinder and the pressure head into the ice storage box, wherein the upper end portion of the rotatable shaft is coupled to an agitator assembly. An ice storage level sensing or detecting switch is installed within the ice storage box. When the ice storage box becomes full of ice pieces, this state is detected by the ice storage level switch, whereby a compressor constituting a part of the ice making mechanism and the drive motor for rotating the rotatable shaft are stopped.
In such an ice dispenser apparatus, when the ice pieces stored within the ice storage box are to be discharged, the drive motor is energized to rotate the agitator assembly and a discharge port shutter is actuated to open a discharge a port provided in a side wall portion of the ice storage box. Thus, an amount of small ice pieces is dispensed through the discharge port, which amount can be determined by the time period during which the discharge port shutter is maintained open.
The known ice dispenser apparatus is, however, disadvantageous in that since the amount of ice dispensed for a predetermined time through the discharge port having a fixed cross-sectional area may vary dependending on variable parameters such as quality of ice, shape of ice pieces and others, the amount of ice being dispensed differs significantly from one discharging another even when the period during which the discharge port shutter is opened is maintained constant. Furthermore, since unevenness or dispersion in the amount of ice as dispensed becomes more significant as the shutter release duration is increased, the uniform ice dispensing capability of the apparatus becomes even further degraded when the amount of ice dispensed at a time is increased.